Healthcare patients are commonly given fluids such as medication and nutrients by being connected to enteral fluid-delivery systems via fluid vessels. Common fluid vessels for delivering such fluids include small-bore tubes and catheters. A problem arises when these fluid tubes are misconnected. That is, when a tube from one fluid delivery system is connected to a tube intended for connection to another fluid delivery system that serves a completely different function, for example, when a feeding administration set is inadvertently connected to a tracheostomy tube. Such tubing misconnections are also referred to as LUER misconnections, small-bore misconnections, or wrong-route errors. Tubing misconnections have resulted in patient injury and deaths, and are widely recognized as underreported.
An underlying cause of these misconnections has been attributed to the universal design of LUER connectors, which are one of the most commonly used types of small-bore connectors in healthcare. These connectors used to connect the tubing of one medical device to another. However, the simple design and ease of use of LUER connectors allows the tube of the device for one delivery system to be connected to tube of an unrelated system that has a different intended use (e.g., vascular, enteral, respiratory, epidural, or intrathecal), resulting in healthcare providers inadvertently connecting wrong systems together and thereby causing liquids (e.g., medications or enteral feedings) or gases (e.g., oxygen) to be delivered through the wrong route.
Efforts are underway to develop standards, such as the ISO 80369 standards, for tubing connections. These standards hold the promise of significantly addressing the tubing misconnection problem. For example, these standards provide for a new connector for enteral feeding tubes that prevents misconnection to non-enteral connectors. This new connector is also referred to as the ENFit connector.
In addition to the ENFit connector being implemented on enteral feeding tubes, the syringes that contain and deliver the fluids (nutrients or medicine) will generally also have the ENFit connector to provide for connection with the tubes. In many cases, a plurality of syringes are filled and capped or sealed in batches. Commonly, the cap or protector that is used to temporarily seal a syringe is small in size and is designed to be coupled to the connector of the syringe in a particular orientation. Some caps have been developed to “self-right” or orientate a particular way (i.e., with their coupling feature face up) when dropped onto a surface, such that connecting the cap with the syringe is relatively easy and quick. But known self-righting caps are not compatible with the ENFit connector standards.
Continued improvements to self-righting caps or protectors is sought. It is to the provision of a self-righting tip cap meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.